Waste
by Violet Lore
Summary: "Kill?" Yet another voice sounded from behind us.  For many nights those voices would haunt my dreams, drifting in and out. Like a broken record they would play over and over and over again, keeping me up at night.  "Yesssss."
1. One

WASTE

_One_

The Earth is round, but once was thought to be flat. You could fall off the edges and never be found again, believed to be eaten by a sea monster or gobbled up by the great waters. It seems mankind's mind is always changing. Ever changing, ever growing, never stopping, never slowing. And for that fact we are ruined. We grow so fast that there is no room left to grow anymore, and destroy lives in our path to where we might have more room to move a little. Then we grow more and must kill again. No one realizes all the waste that we make, all the ruin we leave behind us.

Eventually, all this expansion begins to backtrack, and we are thrown into darkness...

* * *

Every night I am awoken by the pounding against the walls, and the gunshots echoing in the night. Sometimes, they are just the night whispers, coming to haunt my sleep, though more often than not, it's the real thing. The meaty thumps of bodies on the concrete, breaking their own bones to try and get inside always give me day frights. Sometimes, they scream. Sometimes they beg. But always the gunshots sound. They want we we can't give them, for then we would lose our own lives.

These bloodsucking demons want our flesh—our blood, and we would be fools to hand them over so easily, for we are some of the last.

It started around thirty-some years ago, I remember my father telling me.

At first, it was just a few disappearances in Chile, near the Strait of Magellan. Then whole villages went missing, and the natives questioned their gods. From there on out, it spread like wildfire. Cities suddenly became wastelands of debris and a few dead, rotting bodies. Most changed after their heart stopped beating, while others were far too weak to let the sickness spread.

In two months the entire continent of South America was void of human life, while the vampires began to travel north in search of sustenance. Of course, at that time, everyone thought it was another country trying to invade the United States.

World trade shut down completely to North and South America, while the US closed the southern borders and barricaded off Mexico. Walls were built, over fifty feet high to keep them out, while troops waited on the other side with bombs and guns.

Nothing got passed them, for the first seven years, and eventually no more of the monsters dared to try to cross. At this point, the researchers finally came to the startling conclusion that maybe the restless beings had given up, or died off. This realization made the men and women lazy, and tricked the government into thinking that the beasts were all dead. But they weren't.

On December 31st of 20-, the marines and soldiers were holed up in their tents, and though the air wasn't so chilly because of their southern location, they stayed inside and celebrated Christmas with what little they had. Card games were played, money was put down, and they had a merry little time.

Like ghosts, the monsters crept over the wall, ever so silent, and feasted on the few sentries. Like air, they swept through the encampment, not seen, and not heard by any one person.

It wasn't until a few hours after the gruesome scene that a caravan of new troops arrived to refresh some of the old. They rewound the video-feeds and watched it play out, from beginning to end. The massacre of two-hundred and twelve people had taken a total of thirty-seven minutes and ten seconds, and there had only been around ten of the vampires caught on the feeds, before one of them smashed the cameras in.

Dad had taped that particular sighting from the news, and would play it at least once a year, showing the cunning and patience of our enemies; he had only been a young kid when this whole mess started.

"Please, let me come in I beg of you, my brothers... My sisters... Let me in."

Not many of the crazed beings had the eloquence of civilized speech; most were cat-like in their language, hissing and spitting. I've seen many men and women fall to their lovely voices, leaning over the balconies of our safe-house to certain death. The last moments before death from our dark angels were surely painful, for they crowded on one body as if they were a pack of rabid jackals, tearing the carcass apart.

"They're gett'n closer! Hurry up and get'chur guns, boys!" my uncle's loud voice echoed through the dark spaces. Kicking off my ragged covers, I rolled off my bed and grabbed my gun from it's box. I wasn't much of a good shot, but it seemed everyone was needed if I could hear my uncle yelling. Dust swirled as I opened the oak-wood case, and took out my rarely-used weapon. It was old, made far before this whole vampire mess started. By the time I made it to the roof, the problem seemed to have cooled down.

Blood soaked the ground and walls, like black rivers. Not surprisingly, our undead friends had black blood, easily marking them apart from any human. Red was mixed in near the top of the wall, and I knew some had fallen to their charms. In the distance, I could see the survivors slipping away, gliding over the ground soundlessly, except for their echoed laughter. Slipping closer to the edge, I hoped to get a better look at who had fallen, before my shoulder was yanked back and I was met with the angry red face of my kin.

I remember a time when he was kind and spoke softly, before the breach of our last home, before my father and friends were killed by vampires. My father had been the leader of our society, telling people what to do and where to go, whether or not we needed to spread out more or add more men to the watch. He had been the thinker, the one who everyone looked to in a tight squeeze. Just one small slip-up and he was among the bodies we counted when dawn came. Since then, the stress of surviving has been thrust on my uncle's shoulders, and everyone looks to him now. It's why so many problems have been happening as of late. He can't think in tight situations easily, and he often resorts to anger. And when the anger sets in after a particularly bad loss, he yells.

"Fly!" he bellowed in my face as he shook my shoulder roughly. His dark eyes were glazed in anger and confusion, spit flying from his lips. "You're not allowed up here!" As his only niece, I am subjected to his rough demeanor and his flaw of being over-protective to a fault. "I swear, girl! One day I'll push you over the edge myself! Get back downstairs!" I didn't even flinch at his threats; he would never go through with it. I meant too much to him.

Brushing past him, I made my way down the creaky steps. Seems like I wouldn't be any help. Again. I was more likely to blow my own foot off than actually land a shot on the leeches anyway. I was surprised he hadn't told me that.

"Hey, Fly." I glanced up towards the roof, standing at the bottom of the stairs. One of the older boys was calling down to me. When he saw that he caught my attention, he smiled tiredly. His eyes seemed sad. But here, we get over our grief quickly. We have to, otherwise we would all be walking dead. "I'll take you out for target practice at daylight, if you want?" Dex. That was his name. I didn't often talk to the boys around here, figuring I didn't have the time for it. Heck. They didn't have time for it.

"Uhm.. Y-yeah. Sure. Thanks," I mumbled, looking down at my shoes feeling properly embarrassed. Everyone knew I was a horrid shot, even after days and days of practice. I glanced back up to see his smile widen a bit in the night.

"Alright, then." I nodded once, before scurrying off to my bed. It would be dawn soon. We would be safe then.

For a little while, at least.

* * *

"So, how'd I do?" I was sitting in the grass, barely in view of the safe-house. The sun was warming my skin—a rare occurrence. Rainclouds usually covered the vast blue skies, leaving us to stay behind our walls. It seemed most myths about vampires were true. They turned to ash in sunlight. I had seen it happen once, when I was seven. It had been a cloudy day, and they had been banging against the walls again. Suddenly, a miracle. The sun peaked between the cloud for a few seconds, causing a few caught in the light to scream in anguish. Steam had risen from their skin, peeling off at an insane rate, before, they crumpled to the ground in a pile of ash and black bones. A few other myths were true: they were repelled by crosses and garlic. Neither could kill a vampire, but garlic burned their noses and drove them crazy, while the cross symbolized purity. Something they lost a long while ago.

"Well, your aim could use some improvement..." Dex mumbled, his large eyes staring at me in a way that said he was quite astonished that he was still alive. He had blue eyes, brighter than the sky, with flecks of gray and a darker ring of blue around his irises.

"It's alright, you know. I can take criticism," I replied to him, putting the safety on.

"You're horrible. I don't think you improved at all." He face-palmed, feigning distress. "You're a lost cause, Fly." The target dummies on the other side of the clearing were unscathed, standing proud for another day. My bullets missed every single target.

"Honesty's the best policy," I pointed out, offering him a half smile. Finding out that one of the boys you grew up with had jumped headfirst over the wall really blocked out the good things in life. Especially when the next morning came you got to watch them pick up what was left of him. Dex plopped himself on the ground quite gracelessly.

"If you say so." He leaned back and relaxed into the thick green grass, a tree providing shade for us both. The sun was treating the parched earth like a frying pan; the usually soft and moist dirt was cracked, while most of the grass had turned a dull yellow-green. I placed the gun on the ground before laying on my belly next to it, and resting my head on my arms.

It was so peaceful, and the sunlight warmed my skin.

The grass was so soft...

I barely noticed when my eyes closed.

Maybe, if I hadn't fallen asleep, I would've noticed the clouds. Maybe, then, that would have saved us both.

"Fly! Fly!" Something rough shook me, and I tried to swat it away. My dream had been so nice and sweet. Nothing but sunshine on ocean waves. "Dammit, get up! They're coming, the vampires!"

That one word squashed all the sleepiness out of my body. I was on my feet in seconds, adrenaline coursing through my veins. Overhead, black clouds swarmed in the sky, blocking every ray of light that had warmed my skin only hours earlier. I grabbed my gun off the ground, almost dropping it. My palms were slick with sweat, and I could feel myself growing pale.

"We have to run for it, come on!" Dex grabbed my arm in a super-human grip, and towed me behind him. We were sprinting through the trees, leaves and branches snapping into my face and eyes. My lungs began to ache from running and my legs felt like jelly. I could hear them laughing, cackling. I looked to the left and could see shadows following us, swift and too graceful.

I wasn't paying attention when I suddenly ran into Dex's back, losing my breath.

"Why'd you stop? Go!" I yelled at him, walking in front of him to stare into his eyes. His were beautifully sad, staring into my own. He took one of my hands in his own; his were cold. Ice cold with fear.

"They're playing with us." His voice was flat and hard. "We would make it back to the safe-house, just to where they could slaughter us in front of everyone. I don't know about you, but I would rather my mother remember me as this, and not as a bloody, mutilated corpse." I laughed shakily, sweat dripping down my back.

"Yeah." I couldn't force any words out of my mouth, besides a squeak after that. My vision went blurry with tears, and my breath came faster.

"I didn't bring my gun, and you're all out of bullets," he said matter-of-fact-like. I couldn't stand how easily he was taking this. We were going to _die_. He squeezed my hand tightly, a bruising grip, and I squeezed as hard as I could back.

"_Ssssmart." _A hollow voice whispered from the surrounding trees.

"_Fuuuun_." Another voice, from a different side.

"_Kill?" _Yet another voice sounded from behind us.

For many nights, those voices would haunt my dreams, drifting in and out. Like a broken record, they would play over and over and over again, keeping me up at night.

"_Yesssss." _A chorus from all around us, as if a hundred beasts were hiding in the trees. Somehow it was still a whisper.

A white-hot pain exploded in my side, then my hand was being ripped away from Dex's. Pinpricks all over my legs, and then the crushing pressure of someone standing on my head.

And finally, blackness.

The pain still followed me.

* * *

_**Author's Note:**_ **So, I wrote a Lion King fic awhile back, and then took it down because a. I wasn't interested in it anymore, and b. It didn't seem satisfying. Plus, I had just gotten the idea of this fic, and it seemed way cooler. **

**I have the next chapter written, if anyone's interested. **

**So...  
**

**1. Do you like this story? Are you willing to read further?**

**2. Is there anything you didn't understand/find confusing? Any errors or misspellings? **

**3. Is it long enough? This is the shortest a chapter will ever be. Would you like the chapters to be longer? **

**4. How do you like my characters, thus far? Interesting? Mary Sue-ish? Gary Stu-ish?**

**5. The plotline. Too predictable, or did you like it?**

**And finally: The summary. Did it catch your eye, or do I need a new one?**

**Feel free to leave an anonymous review! It is enabled! :)  
**


	2. Two

WASTE

_Two_

I always thought dying would be peaceful, you know? Like floating on a cloud in the pitch black, not afraid of anything type of dying. Apparently it's not like that. At least not for me.

I could still feel my body. My head was pounding as if I were a thousand feet under the water, and I could feel liquid in my ears. My arm was twisted awkwardly to the side, and every time I breathed pain shot through me like hot steel. My lungs were on fire. My legs were tingling, and worst of all, I opened my eyes.

I wasn't dead.

Rain was pelting my body, ice cold. Mud was beneath me. I could only see the blurry shapes of the trees, or I would have, but _things_ were looming over me. I blinked a few times, and suddenly every thing was crystal clear.

Wild. That's what they all looked like. Savage. They were all smiling, maybe five or six of them. More, since I could hear the shuffling around me. Clothes that were in tattered rags, skin pale, white. Dark rings around red-tinted eyes. Vampires. And they were all so beautiful, as if death had killed the ugly along with it. Even though they all were completely different, they all looked exactly the same. A frightening look was in all of their eyes, untamed and untapped.

Someone screamed nearby. It lasted a long while, this blood-curdling sound. Then it was cut off, yet it still echoed in my ears. Tears came to my eyes, and mixed with the rain. Because I knew. Dex wouldn't see his mother again. Never ever.

"_Hushhhh." _A cold hand touched my cheek, almost in a comforting way. The cool fingers stroked the hair from my eyes. I focused on the face of a girl. Her eyes were the same red as the others, had the same look. But a shred of humanity clung in the depths. They had to kill to survive, and since humans were weak we would die. It wasn't right.

With great effort, I turned my face away from her hand, feeling the throb of my head start up again.

"_Stupid." _ I heard her hiss. I half smiled at that, because it was true. I was stupid. She smoothed my my hair down a few times, fighting an inner battle, before yanking my hair back in a fierce, quick pull.

Jagged teeth tore into my neck. Into my arm. Into my leg. I could feel each tooth individually in my skin, tearing deeper each time they moved. A scream ripped from my throat, one so loud that I would still be hoarse a week later. Black edged around my vision. Tunnel-vision, I think is what it's called. Everything became blurry, besides the pain.

I wished I would just die already.

Then slowly, the pain began to fade, little by little. The teeth were gone from my wrist, and inner elbow. Then there was no more tearing near my ankle. And finally, the teeth from my neck were replaced with a numb, cooling sensation.

Now, I was really dead, I guessed, as the blackness closed in over me. At long last, not more pain. I blinked my eyes one last time as the shapes around me closed in.

Then I felt nothing. Nothing at all.

* * *

The first thing I did when I opened my eyes was ask if Noah really did fit two of every creature into an ark. I figured that God or one of the angels would tell me, since I just died. I figured they would be sympathetic and answer my question. But no. All I got was hee-hawed laughing, and a headache from moving my mouth.

I wiggled my fingers and felt pain.

I moved my legs and felt pain.

And when I sucked in a breath at the realization that I _still wasn't dead_, I felt pain.

I didn't try to open my eyes, because I knew it would hurt. I didn't want to see the vampires staring at me either. I didn't know why I was alive. Why would they let me live? A cold spike of terror shot to the base of my spine. I couldn't be. I wouldn't. I sat up from the rough couch and opened my eyes. There was no one else in the room.

I stood up from the old lumpy piece of furniture and looked at my hands. My skin wasn't any different. Not any paler than it had been. My hand flew to my chest and I felt for my heartbeat. Stupid. I felt around my neck and checked my pulse. Still there. My legs were just about to give out, aching something fierce.

"You're not a vampire yet." I jumped and turned around, a wave of exhaustion hitting me. I sat down. Now that I wasn't worried about being a freak, I could feel the pain in my body. My ears were buzzing, and my head hurt, as if my brain were trying to bust through my skull. Besides that, my shoulder was sore, as well as every other inch of skin.

"Hurts, doesn't it?" The girl in the doorway was staring at me, her cinnamon eyes half lidded with a bored expression. I didn't even try to nod, and instead stared right back at her. She looked away first. "Tabitha said you shouldn't have lived through that. You should have died. You should have turned into one of them." I closed my eyes, trying to block her out. I didn't like her. "You're lucky. Otherwise they would have had to kill you." I didn't flinch when she said that. No sarcastic emotion was in her tone.

She closed her mouth and stared at the floor, frowning. It was blessedly silent.

"What's you're name?" She sat down next to me and the couch sunk in a little. It was such a sudden move that I couldn't help but flinch. Gritting my teeth through the tightness in my neck, I lifted my head to where I was staring her straight in the eyes.

"Fly." My voice was gravelly and cracked, throat rough and sore. I coughed loudly, and the straining in my chest loosened.

"Parents weren't sticklers for normal names, huh?" she asked, trying to lighten the mood.

"My mother thought it was funny." A spark of hope flared up in my chest and I opened my mouth to say something. If Dex was alive, then everything would be okay. This endless cycle of death could end.

"No. He was dead by the time we got to you. They took his body with them." She said it so bluntly. I looked away, then, not wanting to appear weak in front of a stranger. My eyes watered, until the tears spilled over my cheeks. It wasn't fair. All this dying, and hurting. It wasn't fair at all. It wasn't fair that an eighteen year old boy had to die because of a stupid mistake. My fists clenched against the cushions, dirty nails digging in.

If I hadn't fallen asleep, I could have done something. By now we would have been inside the safe-house, still laughing about how horrible I was with guns. My uncle might have even humored me with putting me on watch with the rest of the group until nightfall. I could have at least tried to save him. I could have done something more. Sacrifice myself to the demons? It could have given him some time to run. He might have made it back if they decided to play with me. He could have. Dex had been a fast runner. I couldn't even imagine how my uncle or his mother felt right now. She had been a tough one, constantly nagging that the safe-house should be built larger, or walls should be put up around it, to where the children would have a safe place to be. But she had been kind, and soft. Like a mother should be.

"-but I think you can if you want. Sound alright?" I snapped my head sideways. She was already standing in the doorway, eyebrows drawn together in an unreadable expression.

"Huh?"

"Malachi said you probably shouldn't walk around for a few days, but you look better than you did two days ago. If you feel up to it, you can walk with me to get some food? Stretch your muscles a bit?" Her expression was guarded. She looked like she was hiding something. Something important. Something I needed to know.

"No. I'm not... not..." I couldn't spit out the world. Not because I wasn't hungry, because I was and my stomach growled, and ached, causing my body to automatically cave in on itself. As if to prove a point that I had to feed this body, when all I wanted to do was cry. I looked at the ground, then, glaring.

"I'll bring you back something." She was gone before I could nod, her footsteps retreating as the door closed shut. I was glad she left.

Tears streamed down my face, and I clenched my teeth to keep from screaming in pain and frustration. My breath came in hiccuped gasps. I hated crying. Every time I thought I was beginning to calm down, another thought filled my head. Of Dex smiling, or laughing. My heart would give a little, painful jump, and a fresh wave of tears would start. A high, keening noise entered my ears. It wasn't hard to figure out that I was making that. I would probably be doing that a lot.

Then all of a sudden I stopped crying, and I was made aware of a bone-creaking exhaustion. I slumped into the cushions of the ratty couch, and took deep, ragged breaths. My nose was too stuffy to breathe through and my face felt swollen. I closed my teary eyes, knowing that if I went to sleep now, I wouldn't feel anything anymore.

And that was exactly what I wanted.

I wasn't sure how long I slept, but it couldn't have been long.

"Are you sure that's natural? Her breathing pattern?"

"I'm sure it's normal. I'm also sure that you're a freak."

"You can't be mean to me. I'll tell Dad."

"Go ahead and tell your Dad ya runt!'

"Hey! Don't call me a runt!"

"I can call you a runt if I want to, runt!"

"No you CAN'T!"

"Yes! I CAN!"

"No!"

"Yeah!"

"No!"

"Would you two just shut-up already?" The voice was scary, and made my eyes snap open. Tear-crust covered my lashes, making them stick together, and I rubbed fiercely at my eyes. My head throbbed at the action, but I ignored it, along with all my other bones creaking in protest.

"See? She's awake. She's fine," the now not-so-scary voice said. My eyes flickered to the open doorway, where I could see the back of a man disappearing. Suddenly two faces invaded my space, leaning close into my face. Then there was one, because apparently the taller girl had pushed the shorter boy away.

"She doesn't want you staring at her like a freak, runt!" the girl hissed into his face, her black hair flying. The boy pushed her back, and suddenly they were rolling around on the floor, yanking the others' hair, kicking and punching. I hadn't noticed before, but there was another kid in the room. She was standing against the far wall, shaking her head slowly as she watched them roll on the floor. She looked like an exact clone of the boy: black hair, blue eyes and fair skin.

The two were still kicking each other when the door opened. My savior in the form of my caretaker with the cinnamon eyes. Her eyes were still lazily half-lidded as she handed me a tray of food. With deft movements, she had grabbed both of the kids by the back of their shirts and was tossing them into the hallway.

"Take your dirty selves somewhere else, and quiet down!" she hissed, bopping each once on the head, before shutting the door. She eyed the little girl in the corner for a moment, before shrugging and walking out of the room.

I sighed, staring down at the food. I picked at the bread, tearing pieces off before dipping it in the soup,and occasionally glanced up to look at the girl. She wasn't staring at me, but occasionally she would lift her eyes in a milli-second of a glance. Not even halfway finished with my food, I set the tray down, and picked up the thermos, downing most of the cool water in it. I set that down, too.

"What's your name?" I asked the girl. My voice was still scratchy and rough, but my throat didn't hurt nearly as bad, and my mouth wasn't too dry when I spoke. Her blue eyes stared at me, now, though she stayed silent. With a determined look on her young face, she nodded to herself, before opening her mouth.

"Nora."

"I'm Fly." She nodded again as I said this, and her eyebrows squished together. Standing up and straightening out her dress, she came to sit by me. Her movements were awkward and jerky, as if she were contemplating running away any second. For the first few minutes, she sat stiffly, hands in her lap and face forward, but after awhile, she relaxed into the cushions next to me, her face turned towards me.

"Do you like green?" she asked suddenly, and since we had been sitting so long in silence, it made me jump. She flinched when I did, but I gave her a reassuring smile.

"It's my favorite color." She nodded again.

"Mine too." And then she smiled, and it was the most adorable thing in the world.

We went back into silence. At first, I was too occupied by her to think of anything else but the strange child sitting next to me, but then I felt it. The pain in my chest, like a fire, spreading to invoke terrible memories. Just when I though I was going to cry, Nora looked up at me.

"You look like her. But she wasn't as sad as you are." Then, she patted my arm, awkwardly. It was comforting. Nora then slid off the couch and went across the room to sit against the wall, like she had been earlier, right before the door opened and in came my caretaker.

Her eyes darted to Nora, before she closed the door behind her.

"Malachi was wondering if you're up for a chat," she said simply, bending to pick up the tray. "Are you ready?"

I sighed, standing and stretching my bones and sore body. I smelled like I had rolled in something dead, and the dried blood was flaking off my dirty clothes.

"Maybe you'd like to shower first?" She seemed to have noticed my discomfort. I nodded. She then turned to Nora. "Can you tell them that I'll bring her in an hour or two?" Nora nodded.

The little girl then left the room silently, and the girl with the cinnamon eyes ushered me out.

The place I was in wasn't what I was expecting. The room that I had been in had no windows, and the floor had been plain cracked tile, with cement underneath. In the hallway, it was brick walls with cement flooring. Ten feet from the floor were windows that let to the outside. Black metal, what I guessed were shutters, were propped up by pieces of steel, and three latches were on the inside. Probably to keep the windows locked shut when it got dark. Down the hall we went, passing other rooms with broken doors on the right, and boarded up windows on the left.

The air was thick with dust, but so much easier to breath in than in the stuffy room. We rounded a corner, and to the left were two sets of stairs, both leading to the same place. We went further down the hall, passing either broken doors or new ones. Then further still until the hallway branched off in two places. There, we took a left, going down until we came to a set of double doors. They weren't boarded up. The cinnamon eyed girl pushed them open, watching me impatiently as I followed at a snail's pace. Finally, we were outside.

It wasn't safe. Gray clouds lingered overhead, blocking all sunshine.

Fear was nailed in the form of an icy spike in my brain, and I flinched backwards to the doors. But she grabbed me.

"It's alright. They can't come here." I didn't want to believe her, but I had to. She dragged me down concrete steps, and I chanced a glance behind me. Blurry words were carved into the stone. The most I could make out was 'middle school.' Whatever that was. Down a concrete path we went, walking around the outside of the school, until we came to another building. It was plain, with the same concrete steps as the larger building. We walked into it and came through the entrance in the form of broken, or no doors. Dull wood floors could be made out through the dusty light coming from the open upper windows. It was shaped like a smaller version of a stadium.

The one thing that made me freeze were the people. They didn't have on the sad, inevitable expressions of my home family. They were happy, joking, laughing. Some were angry. And there were children. Lots of them. At the safe house child-births weren't something to be joyous about. The mother usually lost the baby in labor, because of the hardships we had to face. And then, if they did survive, they wouldn't live long because of the sicknesses that came with the cold.

Then I was being tugged along again, passed them, and down a short hallway. At the end were two doors, one leading to the right, and one to the left. She took me into the left one. Curtains lined the far wall, each providing privacy for a shower stall. To the left were shelves full of home-made soaps and linens to dry with, along with spare sets of clothes and undergarments. The girl stacked my arms with soaps and rags to clean with, along with clothes, before shoving me into the nearest stall and instructing me to toss my dirty clothes out.

I knew how to use a shower because at the safe house they had one. The only reason we had running water there was because the pipes fed off of an underground well. I can't even imagine how they got running water here.

I shed my clothes and tossed them over the curtain, turning to move the knob to turn on the water. But before I could, I noticed a mirror. It was old and covered in rust in places, cracked in others. But most of it was clear.

The girl in the mirror looked nothing like me. Her eyes were empty, dull, lifeless, and bloodshot. Her skin was pale, paler than normal, with dark blue and black bruises covering every other inch of skin. Blood was caked to her neck, and mud to her feet. Bite wounds marked her arms, leg and neck, almost completely healed. Large claw marks were scabbed over from her upper thigh to knee.

All in all, I looked like I had been attacked by a pack of wolves.

Turning on the water, it came out hot. I didn't expect it to even be moderately warm, yet steam filled up the stall quickly. A sigh escaped my lips as I stepped under the spray. At the safe-house, hot water was rare unless you were willing to heat it over the fire.

I watched as the dirty water went down the drain, slowly getting clearer and clearer. Grabbing the home-made soap, I quickly scrubbed away the dirt and blood from my skin, being extra careful around particularly sensitive bruises and wounds. When I was satisfied with the cleanliness of my skin, I moved on to my hair. It was a thick, knotted mess, matted in some places with twigs and grass, and in others with blood. Grimacing, I scrubbed all that I could out, flinching as the soap from my hair got into my eye. It didn't bother me much. A vampire bite hurt much worse.

A wave of pain swept over me and I froze. My heart thumped weakly in my chest, drawing a gasp from my lips. It wasn't physical pain. That, I could handle. But this, this feeling of despair and depression was something new to me.

"Fly, would you hurry up?" I had forgotten about her. Whatever her name was.

I turned off the water and dried as best as I could before slipping on the clothes she gave me. The under-clothes fit fine, but the shirt and pants were far too big, and faded from over-use. At least they were clean.

"I'm Maggie, by the way," my caretaker said as I pushed back the curtain. I stared at her for a long moment, wondering if it had slipped her mind to introduce herself. "Let's go. Tabitha isn't a very patient person."


	3. Three

WASTE

_Three_

The doors that Maggie led me through were old, and rickety. At eye-level the double-doors were boarded up where glass had once been, and above them was a worn plaque reading 'Office.' The room we walked into was large with high ceilings and not-so-crappy furniture. Old and new rugs covered the old-marbled floor, while blankets and pillows were piled up near the far corner in neat stacks. Bookshelves lined one wall filled with, well, books. From what I could see most were old and tattered, while the few decent ones were stacked on the lowest shelf, and the crappiest were on the highest. It made no sense. I would've put the crappier ones and the bottom, and least crappy at the top.

There was a cough, and my eyes were drawn to the people who sat in the furniture. There were only two women among the group of men, and all were over the age of thirty. Maggie pushed me forward as the man in the middle nodded to her, before leaving abruptly. For a few long, agonizing moments all they did was stare at me.

"Please, take a seat," the salt-and-pepper haired man said from the middle. His voice was stern and commanding, as if he were used to ordering people around. I listened, of course. It just so happened that a chair was conveniently placed in front of them.

"Now, would you mind telling us your name, and how you turned up in the situation you were in?" a woman to his left said. Immediately, she got a glare from the middle man, who shook his head. "Or, how about just your name, dear?" she rephrased, looking to the man for confirmation. There was a slight nod of his head.

"Fly." I decided to stick to one-word answers being that there was less pain, and little to no thinking.

"You're full name, dear," the woman snapped bluntly. Again, she received a well deserved glare.

"Josie Fly Highlander," I answered, and all I got back was silence. "My dad used to say that my mom had a sense of humor." I said it as dryly and emotionless as I could, but I could feel a wry smile make it's way onto my mouth. The other woman nearest me smiled just a bit at my added comment.

"And where are they? You're parents?" one of the men asked. He had the least amount of gray in his light hair.

"They... uhm... passed away." I wiggled in my seat, uncomfortable speaking about that particular area of my life.

"And how did that happen?" the nosy woman said, plunging on before I could take a breath. I sighed, and looked towards the floor.

"Child-birth. Vampires." The man in the middle winced, as did the woman nearest me.

"And what were their names?" I flinched.

"Joseph and Cassie Highlander." The words came out as a croak.

"And how did you come to be in the situation we saved you from?" The woman was relentless; did she not notice how much it bothered me to speak of these things?

"I believe that is enough questions for now, Tabitha," an exotic looking man said from the left side of the middle-man. "You wouldn't want to overwhelm the child." I hadn't noticed him before. He was younger than the rest of them, maybe in his late twenties, or early thirties. No traces of gray in his hair, or frown-lines on his sharp face.

"You have no say here goat-sucker." The woman, Tabitha, hissed, before her face snapped back to me. "The boy that was dragged off by the vampires, what was his name?" I didn't open my mouth to reply. Was it only two days ago that he had died? Only two days since he took his last breath? It couldn't have been. It felt longer. Like centuries. And at the same time if felt fresh, as if he had only died seconds ago. Had it only been two days since I saw his eyes, filled with desperation and courage in the face of death? Or had it been decades since he looked at me, wise despite the fear evident in his every move?

A high keening noise filled my ears and suddenly I was snapped back to the present. Tabitha was staring at me like I was a nut-job. So that had been me that made that strange, odd noise...

"His name was Dex."

"And were you and... Dex in a sexual relationship?" The woman didn't miss a beat.

"Okay, Tabby, don't you think that question is a bit irrelevant to her situation?" the exotic man said, his dark brows drawn together in a frown.

"Again, you have no say here whatsoever, Nash." As if nothing happened, her eyes snapped back to me, glaring heatedly. "Well, are you going to answer me, little girl?" I stared at her for a long, hard while. She didn't give way under my glare, and I could feel her anxiety start to stuff up the room. Why was it so important?

"No."

"No, you're not going to answer me, or no you weren't in a ... relationship with that boy?" Her head cocked slightly to the side, almost curiously, while her dark eyes glared daggers at me. Suddenly, a wave of anger made me grit my teeth. Why did this annoying woman have to be so nosy and rude? Was she an oddity that didn't experience human emotions? "Well?" I grit my teeth together and stared her down. The rage and adrenaline that coursed through my veins caused my cheeks to turn red, and I stood quickly to leave the room, before I decided to deck her. The chair toppled to the floor as I stalked to the door.

Pausing as I grasped the handle in my sweaty hands, I turned back once more. They were all looking at me oddly, except for that strange man. They knew something I didn't.

"You _may not leave,_" the Tabitha woman hissed, her eyes a mix of anger and confusion. My guess is that no one ever thought to disobey her.

"Sure I can," I sneered at her, before yanking open the door and slamming it behind me.

I didn't know where I was going, but I knew that I couldn't stay here anymore. These people were strangers. They knew nothing about me. Nothing at all. They knew nothing of Dex. I hadn't like him like_ that_. Maybe I would have, if it hadn't happened. If he hadn't died. _Dead, dead, dead_. Just like everyone else I've ever known. My mother, Dad, Lilly, Mr. Jax, Garrett, Dex, and countless other faces that I barely remember. Soon, my legs were running without my consent as my muddled thoughts tried to sort themselves out. With every pounding of my heart, my feet echoed twice as fast.

It was no surprise that after I had calmed down and regained my wits, I was lost. Completely and utterly lost. On top of that, I wasn't in my ideal place of being. Instead of being surrounded by miles of wild-grass, overgrown plants and trees, I was stuck in a concrete jungle. And the topping on the metaphorical cake? The sun was sinking behind the buildings at an alarming rate.

Overgrown grass sprouted up through cracks in the cement roadway, and vines climbed the walls of dilapidated buildings. Almost all doors were broken, and windows were boarded up. From my place in the street, I couldn't see past the darkness in the entrances to the buildings. A tremor of fear went down my spine. There were things in there, I would bet, and they wouldn't come out until dark. I picked up my pace, going deeper into the abandoned city. Every building had some type of easily-accessible entrance into it. There was no safe place to hide. No trees, or safe-houses, nothing. I would be lucky if I survived the first few minutes of night. By the time I had finally figured out that there was no place to run to, I was standing in the middle of a rode near an old statue of a horse.

I watched in awed fear as the last rays of sunlight finally disappeared, and the light of the moon took it's place. For a few long minutes, there was no sound save the loud beating of my heart.

Then, a wolf's howl filled the silent night and a symphony of odd grunts and screams followed.

My mind could only think of one thing: run. I took off down the street in the opposite direction of the commotion. I could hear whatever it was getting closer and closer. In the distance, the sound of metal falling to the ground blocked out all other sound, before growls and screeches covered it up. I pushed myself harder, sprinting down the street like a bat out of hell.

I looked over my shoulder, only to see that five blocks back was a huge creature standing in the shadows. That moment was all it took to lose my balance, and I tripped over a crack in the ground taking a nose dive into the nearest pile of junk. I scrambled to my feet seconds later, clutching an old metal pipe, only to see that the creature was no longer there. The night had become eerily silent.

_Tap. Taptap. Tap tap tap. Taptaptaptaptaptap. Tap. Tap._

I didn't have time to turn around and see what was coming, because I was suddenly pushed to the ground. As soon as I hit the concrete I heard a giggle and a hiss. I clutched the metal pipe tighter.

"Ah ah ah. Look what we got here. A cute little girl, straying from the herd," the vampire girl in front of me said with a lilting voice. Her mouth was covered in blood, and as she talked, some of it slowly dripped down her chin and onto the ground. A hand roughly grabbed my arm and hauled me to my feet before it was gone. Another vampire stood next to her now, his crazed eyes gleaming. "This looks fun, right Tate? A fun little hunt right under their noses?"

"She seems off." The female vampire huffed and threw up her hands.

"You're just picky, that's all," she said, stepping close to me. "We have to hurry, Tate. If they catch us then it won't be fun anymore." Her face was turned to the man. This would be my only chance. I lifted up the pipe and swung for all I was worth. It connected solidly with the back of her skull, and she crumpled in a heap.

"Wretch!" The male vampire launched himself at me with a roar and we went tumbling to the ground. Or, more precisely, I went tumbling to the ground while he, with all his undead gracefulness, stood above me. The wrath of an angry vampire was something I had never seen before. Before my eyes the man's features sharpened in his rage. The blackness overtook his eyes in a dizzying void of darkness. With the strike of a cobra he grasped my neck and held me in the air. I gasped and clawed at his hands as he laughed and before I could scream a familiar pain ripped into my neck.

A foreign instinct resonated from the tips of my toes to the top of my head.

An anger so odd and different that I had no choice but succumb to it. It filled my mind to the brim with waves of heat and fire, and a black feeling beyond that. In that moment, something inside of me changed. It was so rapid and quick that I barely noticed it beyond the anger and pain. My mind began to speed through a place void of emotion, trying to find that piece that was off and fix it. I was so close to figuring out that little bit that was off, so, so close...

And then suddenly I was dropped to the ground as my physical eyes perceived a wolf-like creature ripping the vampire from my body.

The world around me seemed to slow down. The creatures around me moved sluggishly, as if through a thick wall of water. They tore the two vampires apart with their clawed hands as if they were strips of paper. Almost instantly the vampires turned to dust, their screams of pain abruptly cut off. Once finished with that task the wolves dusted their large clawed hands against their bodies, before turning menacing, snarling mouths on me. Still oh-so-slow, I watched as the nearest launched it's body at me. With wonder in my eyes, it came closer and closer, and I didn't dare move. When it was an arms-length from me, it's jaws opened wide, and I was reminded of a story my father had told me.

"What large teeth you have," I told it, a wicked smile spreading across my lips.

Like pressing fast forward on a remote, the world shifted again. Before I could even think about it, my hands had grasped the wolf's jaws and tossed him to the side effortlessly. Surprisingly, it went flying into a concrete building and busted through the wall. As one, the remaining beasts came at me. I moved and dodged under their outstretched claws, narrowly missing the sharp teeth to my leg. A wild giggle escaped my throat as the play continued. They charged, I ran. They went to bite, I punched them in the nose. They couldn't catch me. This wild feeling of freedom and danger was new and fun. But then something went wrong.

Somehow, the world began to slow down to normal speed again, and I found that I wasn't nearly as fast as I had been moments earlier. The strange feelings escaped me and retreated back into the void of my mind, locked away again behind a wall. My foot caught on the concrete and I went tumbling to the ground. I only had a second to glance over my shoulder, before the jaws of the wolf came down.

"Now, beasties. Shouldn't you be playing nice with Miss Highlander? She is under the protection of the city's Northgate Pack, after all." My eyes, which had been squeezed shut, opened and I stared at the man standing over me. His red hair was hanging menacingly around him in long, unbrushed tendrils. But it was not he who spoke. The man, Nash, stood on the other side of the road, arm crossed over his broad chest. His hair was pulled back in a pony tail, with large, matted chunks framing his face. Dreadlocks, I think.

"We will let the peace remain. In turn, for our leniency, we expect to be informed of the next gathering." The speech that came from the wolf's mouth was garbled and rocky at best. With the air of royalty, the beast turned around and loped off down the street. The other werewolf paused for a moment as it's alpha disappeared around the corner.

"You should teach your younglings the boundaries, for next time we wont be nearly as kind." With a snarl and a flick of his tail, he too was gone, followed quickly by the third wolf that I had tossed through the building.

"You shouldn't wander off like that," a scolding voice came from above me. I hadn't even heard him walk across the street, yet Nash was leaning over me. He and the red haired man were bent down towards me and too close for comfort. They checked my arms and legs, for injuries I guess, before the red haired man grasped my chin and turned it towards the side. Nash let out a low whistle. His fingers probed at the dried blood on my neck and I winced.

"They got you good, didn't they honey?" Nash asked.

"We'll need to clean that when we get back," the red haired man said. He and Nash hauled me to my feet. The second their hands left me I stumbled a bit, finally feeling the outcome of my actions.

"How... How did I survive that?" I asked, staring at them with wide eyes. They looked at each other for a second, eyes communicating what mouths could not.

"It seems that you are no longer human, Josie Highlander," the red haired man said at last. "All will be explained once we get back to the Northgate base."

**A/N: This chapter is dedicated to **_**Ms. MeggieLeigh**_**, my very first reviewer. Sorry this chapter took so long. I'm not satisfied with it at all. But if I didn't put it up then I wouldn't be able to move past the road block. :/**

**P.S: I will be putting up links to the cast of WASTE on my profile, but I need some help. :) I can't find a good picture for Fly, and I know I haven't really described how she looks. She has blue eyes and dark hair, and has pretty plain facial features. She is supposed to have long, dark hair, but I'll take what I can get. If you find a good pic that might fit her, then PM me the link or put the name of the actor/actress/model in your review. I also need help with Nora (who is around eight or nine-ish), her brother(ten or eleven-ish), Tabitha(well, forty-ish?), and Dex(eighteen-twenty-ish, blue eyes).**


	4. Four

WASTE

_Four_

I flinched as Nash cleaned my wound. The antiseptic stung and he wasn't gentle at all. He didn't seem too happy about being back at Northgate.

I had followed them obediently back to the 'base'. They had been decent to me on the way back, but as soon as the buildings of their home came into view Nash and the red haired man had immediately become stoic and brooding. The light, careless mood had vanished, replaced with a reasonless tension. It was subtle, but I noticed the looks that my 'saviors' had received. They were not well liked among the older inhabitants of the base.

"Would you just be still already?" Nash finally spit out as I flinched again. I glared at him. My eyes were no match for his dark, angry ones.

"If you wouldn't be so rough," I managed to say, looking away from his face. He didn't seem to like that because he made an odd noise and dropped the antiseptic and bandages to the floor. Quick as a flash his hand shot out and grabbed my jaw, making me look at him.

"You will learn to respect me," he hissed in my face. I opened my mouth to give him a piece of my mind about 'respect,' but I snapped my jaw shut when I saw the red haired man shaking his head from across the room. Dex would've never touched me with this malice. At that simple thought, my eyes teared up and I slapped Nash's hand away. He raised his hand. To slap me, perhaps? I hopped off the table and picked up what he had dropped before he could even make a move. I looked back over my shoulder as I slammed the door. That man had a hand on Nash's shoulder, his lips moving, probably trying to calm the jerk down.

That odd, menacing feeling seemed to grasp at my being again, clawing for a hold. It made me feel reckless and unbeatable. My fists clenched as I stomped down the dusty, dark hallway. The windows had been latched shut for the night, but oddly the doors hadn't been barricaded. When I opened one I found the reason why. Three men lounged on the steps, playing dice. They had all looked up when I opened the door, but quickly went back to their game as I went to the building Maggie had brought me to. It was different from the last time. The women and younger children had left. Only older boys and men had remained.

At least that's what I thought, until I saw Maggie with a group of women in the bleachers. Just when I was about to go over to them, she saw me and her eyes flickered strangely. Quick as a whip she skipped the stairs and jumped over the rails. Her feet hit the ground with a thump. A few of the younger men were watching her. Seems she had some admirers... Before I had a chance to open my mouth and say this, she had grabbed my arm and towed me to the bathing room.

"Let me explain something to you Josie Highlander. Around here we have rules. We have barriers. We have borders. As long as you stay within those three you are protected by the Northgate Pack. Once you step outside you are subjected to the harsh punishment that other packs or creatures will provide if they find you trespassing on their land. Do you understand?" She growled into my face and slammed me against the wall. "You are our responsibility. You will ruin treaties if you go running off like that again. You are a liability."

"I didn't ask for this." I shoved her away from me. "I didn't ask to be brought here. I didn't ask to be saved. And I surely didn't ask to be kept alive." She bounced back quickly and pushed me again. "I will not follow your rules. This is not my home." Before she could say anything else I slipped away from her and stalked back to the main room. I could hear her following me.

I pushed through the crowd of of men and boys. They moved, whether they were willing or not. At the center of a crowd was a blur of fighting. The meaty thumps of fists on flesh, viscous growling and whistling wind surrounded the three people on a dusty, beat up mat. It was amazing and fast and wild. The adrenaline and tension in the air was thick enough to choke on, and the onlookers were only silent watchers of the battle in the middle.

The motion of the battle wasn't filled with anger or hate. It seemed like it was an obligation, and like every blow felled was not in malice but for survival.

An overwhelming power filled the room and on instinct my body tensed. The fight sped faster and faster, a blur of limbs and fierce determination.

_Snap._

It was over. The body on the floor was not dead, but merely unconscious, and the other opponent was kneeling before the winner. A thin line of blood dripped steadily from his lip.

I'm not sure if that's what set me off, or if it was the pure feeling of submission, but I felt that change. But this time it was different, quicker. The world slowed to an almost complete stop and I walked over to the kneeling man. I stared at him, and he at me. Minutes passed, only a few milliseconds in the natural, I would find out later. I grabbed his chin in a firm grip and turned his head up to me. His eyes glazed over and flickered to behind me. The beast in me wondered what he was looking at that was so much more interesting than me. And so I turned, just as a wave of power hit me square in the chest.

It jolted me and the beast. She wasn't happy that someone was stronger than her. She didn't want to be weak.

The man who stared me down was not like me. Whatever I was he was not. And he was not like the others in the room or the vampires outside. He was something different and new and strong. The power in his glare warned me off of my victim. I backed down. But you see, I am not the one in control. My body made an odd noise, like the call of a wild dog to a stranger. It questioned for a challenge, a test, yet not to the death. A mock battle.

He seemed to contemplate it. He did not have a beast in control. Then he shook his head and turned his back to me. To us. She didn't like that. Was she not worthy of this strong opponent? Did he think her weak? As I tried to find a grip on her, she leaped. It was graceful and fast and so far from human. He shouldn't have been able to avoid it. But he did. I don't anything will surprise my beast as much as that did. It was just enough of a shock for me to gain control.

And just in time to be slammed forcefully to the ground. The air left my body in a whoosh of wind and I gasped to try to get it back. It didn't work, and only because a large hand was wrapped around my neck. In a panic I clawed at it, desperate for breath. I think by this time the man noticed that I was myself again because he loosened his hold enough for me to breathe normally.

He growled in my face and the beast that lay behind the wall of my mind cowered. He seemed satisfied with that.

"Watch yourself deliciae or she will run you ragged." The man slowly let go of my neck and stood to his full height. He offered me a hand up and I ignored it. Instead I pulled myself up and rubbed my neck. Just another bruise to add to this week's collection. Just then I heard the door open and in came Nash. He didn't look happy. My beast bristled and I couldn't help but curl my lip partway to a snarl. Nash stomped his was right into my personal space, and got right in my face.

"Is this all you do? Cause trouble?" His voice was low and dangerous. Nash doesn't like people ignoring him. I'm guessing he's a leader or king or something of whatever I am.

"Is this all you do? Invade my space and be an ass? Because if it is I've had enough." I don't usually curse or backsass, but this man, just like Maggie, seems to know just what buttons to push. Or maybe I've changed so much I just don't know how to control myself.

"I'm trying to help, you ungrateful cub. You don't know how to control the monster. It is my job to teach you." Some of his anger dissipitated. I don't know why.

"What if I don't want you to?"

"Your options are limited, girl." He looked away and backed up a step. Everyone around us was uninterested in what was going on.

"To who?"

"To me, and me alone."

"Why?"

"Because I am the only one who can control your beast, girl. Rage and Wendigo are not as strong as I." He impatiently turned towards the door, expecting me to follow.

"Well, I don't think that would work."

"Why?" He was getting angry again. I could smell it on him.

"Because."

"Because is not an answer, girl." He was grinding his teeth now.

"Because I personally can't stand you. I would take anyone else over you. Even him." I pointed out the man who held me down.

"Hadrian? He isn't qualified for that position, girl." That was annoying me.

"Stop calling me that."

"What?" He was genuinely puzzled.

"Girl."

"Why?"

"Because I'm almost one hundred percent sure that everyone in this room is aware of my gender. After all, I have breasts. I don't think I can be mistaken for a man." A few people snickered. I watched as he finally gave in to his anger, and in turn his beast. A low growl came from his throat.

"I told you. You will respect me." I knew it wasn't Nash speaking just by his tone. This voice sounded superior and curious where Nash was angry and loud. I blinked and he stood before me, head cocked to the side as he slid a finger along my jaw. My beast did not like him this close. She came close to breaking out of her wall.

"Nash." That powerful voice made him turn around and the beast fall away. "I will teach this... girl." There was soft humor in his voice as well as an underlying warning. He brushed a hand through his shaggy blonde hair before gesturing for Nash to leave. Nash did so with one last glance at me from over his shoulder.

"Hadrian." He held his hand out and I shook it.

"Fly."

"I hope you're a quick learner."

* * *

Got some inspiration today. I hope the beast thing confused you and I hope you guys like Hadrian. I sure do. ;) Short chapter, sorry. I'll make the next one a little longer and will hopefully write it before I graduate. XD


	5. Author's Note

Author's Note:

WARNING: Shameless advertising, slight review begging, apoligizing and Twilight reference.

No, this isn't a real update. I'm sorry.

So, I never got around to fixing my laptop with the other chapters and storyline for WASTE, and I probably won't. Instead I'm going to take down WASTE after I retype it and save it to an email account or two so that this won't happen again. Here's the catch: I won't be reposting it here. I'll be taking my story to FF's sister site, FictionPress under the username rugovina. I already have one story started over yonder, so go take a peek if you're interested.

In the meantime I would like anyone who reads this(if you want) to review with all the mistakes I made in which chapters, spellings errors and overuse of commas. If you wouldn't mind in the review I would also like your opinion of the story thus far, any thing that gets on your nerves or confuses you. Thanks guys/gals/other.

Also, if/when I ever get around to re-doing this story, I'll need a new name for Hadrian. His name gets on my nerves, so send some cool names my way.

AND if you have any suggestions for the story or character ideas, send them to me please.

Don't read if you hate Twilight:

In the next day or so I'll be posting the first chapter of a new story. I don't know what the title will be yet but it's going to be Jake/Nessie romance set about fifteen to twenty years in the future. It's going to be a 'What if Bella and Edward went away after the Newborn battle?' -esque thingy. So Nessie will meet Jake for the first time ever in the story. I hope it won't be too cheesy.

Again, sorry for getting anyone's hopes up... :P


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